Moved into new house, help needed with UniFi

[aquadat0r]

Hi there,

I recently moved in a "new" home, and need to make sure I have proper Wifi coverage across. I am however confronted by the following issues.

All walls, external and internal, are double brick walls
Each ceiling/roof cavity is isolated due to roof configuration, therefor not easy to run cabling through the ceiling, and ceiling mounted AP's has to be last resort.

Taking these points into consideration, I was contemplating using multiple UniFi AC Mesh units and wall mounting them. It would be ideal to manage everyhing from a single controller, like the UniFi one, but not sure what the best setup will be. My initlal thoughts were to use a EdgeRouter SFP-X to power the UniFi's however it need seperate management. Is a USG an option? I probable need a seperate Ubiquiti Switch?

I have a 100Mbps/100Mbps ONT Fibre connection teminating in my study. I have the PPPoE details, therefor I do not need to use the provider's router and can have the ubiquiti equipment manage the session.

Any toughts? Considered PowerLine, but the lack of management put me off.

Thanks

 

[vdpollm]

Hi. I would go with a powerline type solution. It is essentially a layer 2 network. If you need any type of control on the traffic you can put in a mikrotik routerboard. Regards Marc

 

[Sinbad]

Usg is a router not a switch. It doesn't do poe.
You don't need unifi switches unless you want to manage those too. Each ap comes with a poe injector unless you buy the bulk packs so you can work without a poe switch.

 

[aquadat0r]

Usg is a router not a switch. It doesn't do poe.
You don't need unifi switches unless you want to manage those too. Each ap comes with a poe injector unless you buy the bulk packs so you can work without a poe switch.

Understood, just need to decide between PowerLine or Unifi AC AP Mesh.
Does anyone have an opinion on these TP-Link PowerLine 1000 Mbps WiFi Kit, 1 Gigabit Port (TL-WPA7510 KIT) at R 1300 for the set?

 

[Muttley]

Here are my thoughts:

Spend the money and time on doing a proper setup that you won’t need to fiddle with for the next few years. IMO, go for the UniFi AP’s.

I would consider running Ethernet cables in conduit on the outside of your home to the various points. Conduit can easily be painted over and it’s worth it. Most mesh devices are designed for homes that are built of wood and not brick and mortar (deff not double brick walls). I would then install a few UniFi AC lite’s or AC Long Range units to give concentrated 5Ghz coverage.

I would opt for a Netgear Gigabit Switch (PoE not essential) and use the supplied PoE injectors. In terms of the USG, it’s a great device but does require some setup.

If you go the UniFi route. I would setup a cloud hosted controller and let your entire system run in the cloud. I often make changes for clients from my phone/pc. YouTube this on the crosstalk solutions page.

If you get stuck, give us a shout

 

[aquadat0r]

Here are my thoughts:

Spend the money and time on doing a proper setup that you won’t need to fiddle with for the next few years. IMO, go for the UniFi AP’s.

I would consider running Ethernet cables in conduit on the outside of your home to the various points. Conduit can easily be painted over and it’s worth it. Most mesh devices are designed for homes that are built of wood and not brick and mortar (deff not double brick walls). I would then install a few UniFi AC lite’s or AC Long Range units to give concentrated 5Ghz coverage.

I would opt for a Netgear Gigabit Switch (PoE not essential) and use the supplied PoE injectors. In terms of the USG, it’s a great device but does require some setup.

If you go the UniFi route. I would setup a cloud hosted controller and let your entire system run in the cloud. I often make changes for clients from my phone/pc. YouTube this on the crosstalk solutions page.

If you get stuck, give us a shout

Thanks, I'm convinced. Do you run an instance on AWS?

 

[Muttley]

Thanks, I'm convinced. Do you run an instance on AWS?

Yup, a freebie version is running 25 or so sites with no issues.

 

[Sinbad]

Cloud key ftw

 

[Thor]

Adsl -> Unifi 8 port POE switch -> Unifi UAPs

 

[RoganDawes]

Consider the Unifi In Wall stuff, if you don't want to do the Ceiling AP's. Gigabit PoE to each room, provides 2 GbE ports in the room, as well as a Wifi AP.

Perhaps a little pricey, but what's decent Internet worth to you? :-D

Let's just say that I assume you would like to benefit from that 100Mbps fibre link you are paying for!

 

[Thor]

Consider the Unifi In Wall stuff, if you don't want to do the Ceiling AP's. Gigabit PoE to each room, provides 2 GbE ports in the room, as well as a Wifi AP.

Perhaps a little pricey, but what's decent Internet worth to you? :-D

Let's just say that I assume you would like to benefit from that 100Mbps fibre link you are paying for!

I wall Unifi products are not worth it if you need to choose between a UAP and in wall wifi/eth, you can just put normal eth points in each room if you want.

 

[RoganDawes]

I wall Unifi products are not worth it if you need to choose between a UAP and in wall wifi/eth, you can just put normal eth points in each room if you want.

Except that doesn't get you any wifi . . . and if you don't want to do ceiling mounted AP's, because running cabling in the ceiling is difficult/impossible, perhaps the In Wall stuff would be an option.

Don't get me wrong, I've not used it myself, so if you have bad experience with it, by all means, share. I stumbled upon it myself a few weeks ago. If the house is constructed in such a way that typical wifi AP's don't work well (or penetrate to where they are needed), then maybe the In Wall stuff would do a better job.

 

[Muttley]

I have an AC in wall unit in my bedroom- it works great!
Only thing to factor in is that you’ll need either a switch which does PoE 802.3af or you’ll need to purchase a 3rd party PoE injector which is 802.3af- UniFi don’t do these as the in wall units are designed to be powered by one of their switches.

 

[Muttley]

Sorry about the large size, sending this from my phone

 

[Thor]

Except that doesn't get you any wifi . . . and if you don't want to do ceiling mounted AP's, because running cabling in the ceiling is difficult/impossible, perhaps the In Wall stuff would be an option.

Don't get me wrong, I've not used it myself, so if you have bad experience with it, by all means, share. I stumbled upon it myself a few weeks ago. If the house is constructed in such a way that typical wifi AP's don't work well (or penetrate to where they are needed), then maybe the In Wall stuff would do a better job.

If he wants to go in wall then I suggest the UAP-AC-IW-PRO, but I still firmly think 2 or 3 of the UAP-AC-PROE's will do the trick, I live in a 98 year old house with walls thick enough to stop the devil himself.

 

[sajunky]

Except that doesn't get you any wifi . . . and if you don't want to do ceiling mounted AP's, because running cabling in the ceiling is difficult/impossible, perhaps the In Wall stuff would be an option.

Do you suggest to put Ethernet cables in the same conduit as power lines? It is illegal in South Africa.

If you design a new house, you can put separate conduits for LAN, in that case in-wall unit makes sense. If you think of grabbing one of unused power sockets for LAN, it will be not possible, as power sockets are daisy-chained.

 

[RoganDawes]

Do you suggest to put Ethernet cables in the same conduit as power lines? It is illegal in South Africa.

If you design a new house, you can put separate conduits for LAN, in that case in-wall unit makes sense. If you think of grabbing one of unused power sockets for LAN, it will be not possible, as power sockets are daisy-chained.

Fair enough!

 

[aquadat0r]

Still torn between the solutions, once again all walls are double brick, even internal with raised ceilings. Any suggestion based on my home layout will be appreciated. https://imgur.com/a/geXjC

Any downside of using the UniFi AC Mesh rather than the UniFi AC Lite? I'm more than likely to wall mount any kit. I will be able to run CAT5E Outdoor Cable on the outside or along the wall inside.

 

[Muttley]

Still torn between the solutions, once again all walls are double brick, even internal with raised ceilings. Any suggestion based on my home layout will be appreciated. https://imgur.com/a/geXjC

Any downside of using the UniFi AC Mesh rather than the UniFi AC Lite? I'm more than likely to wall mount any kit. I will be able to run CAT5E Outdoor Cable on the outside or along the wall inside.

So the AC Mesh are nice devices- they're really designed for outdoors (hence the 2 aerials sticking out) but they work well indoors also. I've mounted plenty of AC Lite and AC LR devices on the wall and it works perfectly.

If would suggest you use conduit and normal 5e or 6 and avoid running the outdoor cable- it's darn hard to work with. Not very compliant and to terminate it, is a b1atch imo.

Here are 2 heatmaps which I did for you within my controller to give you an idea - unfortunately, unless you're adding the walls in manually, you can't specify the type of material used for the walls so I suspect by default, it's wood

The devices I used were AC Lite's.

2GhZ:


5GhZ:

 

[aquadat0r]

So the AC Mesh are nice devices- they're really designed for outdoors (hence the 2 aerials sticking out) but they work well indoors also. I've mounted plenty of AC Lite and AC LR devices on the wall and it works perfectly.

If would suggest you use conduit and normal 5e or 6 and avoid running the outdoor cable- it's darn hard to work with. Not very compliant and to terminate it, is a b1atch imo.

Here are 2 heatmaps which I did for you within my controller to give you an idea - unfortunately, unless you're adding the walls in manually, you can't specify the type of material used for the walls so I suspect by default, it's wood

The devices I used were AC Lite's.

2GhZ:
View attachment 513655

5GhZ:
View attachment 513657

Thanks a lot, gives me a good feel for what is possible. I assume this holds true when ceiling mounted? Wall mounting the AP AC Lite's probably affects the signal?